Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Artist's Statement
I'm a mask maker, Maskerville is my Florida based studio, and feathers are my prime medium. I also create articles of clothing (hats, boas, and costume accessories) and objects for the home (feathered lamp shades, dusters and picture frames,) but masks are my main muse.
I have been fascinated with masks since I was a child - the ones we 'wear' during our daily lives, as well as the costume versions we don to protect, intrigue, disguise, terrify, and entertain. Joseph Campbell says masks are about transformation, that they reflect the shadow in our soul, and that we use them to take on the faces of our gods and demons. Since masking is such an ancient yet still venerated tradition within all cultures on our planet, there is clearly a spiritual component here, and one which I deeply respect.
My masks are of two main types - feather and fabric - in abundant styles and combinations from the wildly animalistic to the coolly elegant. I build each one to the rigorous standards required for professional performance and individually handcraft them so that no two are alike. Known for their comfort as well as their style, they are conceived as wearable and displayable pieces of art.
Since comfort and robustness are prerequisite to aesthetics, my construction process is precise and painstaking. It begins with a base formed over a contoured face form. Contouring is the key to the fit; the mask must rest easily across the forehead, not on the nose. Small light masks are based on stiffened hypo-allergenic felt; larger models on buckram - a sturdy flexible millinery fabric. Next, eye holes are hand cut to provide unrestricted vision, the face side cushioned with felt, grosgrain ribbons attached in exactly the right place, and hanging loops inbuilt so the mask can be wall displayed. Only then is the front surface ready for feathering.
Feathers are applied individually like tiling a roof. Working from the outside in towards the eye holes and ending with the smallest and finest ones at the nose bridge, the feathers are layered so that all the quills are covered, leaving only the colorful tips visible. Thus the mask feels smooth and soft like the plumage of a real bird.
Natural feather masks are my signature style (the harmonious tones complement most costumes and decors,) but for drama and glamor I use the vibrant tones of dyed plumage. Some masks feature faux horns or antlers, hand molded from my collection of real specimens; others are embellished with braids and jewels.
The feathers themselves are recycled from chickens, roosters, pheasants, ostriches, peacocks and guinea fowl - common food birds purchased from USDA approved vendors. I never use wild or endangered species.
As an artist, my push for authenticity among mask makers is to create contemporary pieces of lasting magic and mystery. Ultimately this requires a combination of the animate and inanimate. I make the mask, but it requires your eyes to bring it to life. This is not high, remote art. My work is built to be worn, thus I must adapt my vision to what makes people look and feel good. If it's successful it's less likely to be a searing inspiration and more of an ergonomic design, executed from an accumulated knowledge of what works in terms of shape and color combos.
When inspired, it's more likely by Manolo Blahnik than by Pablo Picasso.
I'm a mask maker, Maskerville is my Florida based studio, and feathers are my prime medium. I also create articles of clothing (hats, boas, and costume accessories) and objects for the home (feathered lamp shades, dusters and picture frames,) but masks are my main muse.
I have been fascinated with masks since I was a child - the ones we 'wear' during our daily lives, as well as the costume versions we don to protect, intrigue, disguise, terrify, and entertain. Joseph Campbell says masks are about transformation, that they reflect the shadow in our soul, and that we use them to take on the faces of our gods and demons. Since masking is such an ancient yet still venerated tradition within all cultures on our planet, there is clearly a spiritual component here, and one which I deeply respect.
My masks are of two main types - feather and fabric - in abundant styles and combinations from the wildly animalistic to the coolly elegant. I build each one to the rigorous standards required for professional performance and individually handcraft them so that no two are alike. Known for their comfort as well as their style, they are conceived as wearable and displayable pieces of art.
Since comfort and robustness are prerequisite to aesthetics, my construction process is precise and painstaking. It begins with a base formed over a contoured face form. Contouring is the key to the fit; the mask must rest easily across the forehead, not on the nose. Small light masks are based on stiffened hypo-allergenic felt; larger models on buckram - a sturdy flexible millinery fabric. Next, eye holes are hand cut to provide unrestricted vision, the face side cushioned with felt, grosgrain ribbons attached in exactly the right place, and hanging loops inbuilt so the mask can be wall displayed. Only then is the front surface ready for feathering.
Feathers are applied individually like tiling a roof. Working from the outside in towards the eye holes and ending with the smallest and finest ones at the nose bridge, the feathers are layered so that all the quills are covered, leaving only the colorful tips visible. Thus the mask feels smooth and soft like the plumage of a real bird.
Natural feather masks are my signature style (the harmonious tones complement most costumes and decors,) but for drama and glamor I use the vibrant tones of dyed plumage. Some masks feature faux horns or antlers, hand molded from my collection of real specimens; others are embellished with braids and jewels.
The feathers themselves are recycled from chickens, roosters, pheasants, ostriches, peacocks and guinea fowl - common food birds purchased from USDA approved vendors. I never use wild or endangered species.
As an artist, my push for authenticity among mask makers is to create contemporary pieces of lasting magic and mystery. Ultimately this requires a combination of the animate and inanimate. I make the mask, but it requires your eyes to bring it to life. This is not high, remote art. My work is built to be worn, thus I must adapt my vision to what makes people look and feel good. If it's successful it's less likely to be a searing inspiration and more of an ergonomic design, executed from an accumulated knowledge of what works in terms of shape and color combos.
When inspired, it's more likely by Manolo Blahnik than by Pablo Picasso.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Masks... An Ancient Tradition
Masks: An Ancient Tradition
The stuff of legend and rite...
Masks are universal symbols of myth and magic that continue to evoke and express our deepest yearnings. It is said that they speak to the shadow in our soul.
Indeed we 'wear' masks most of the time - our image at work, our role as spouse, and our parental persona. None of these is entirely who we are, and yet they all are a piece of the picture. Each of us is a composite of 'faces' we present to the world according to the given situation.
Our daily 'masks' serve as a shell, protecting us from 'baring our soul' to all and sundry, and saving others from dealing with our complex issues... But there are limits to how we can alter our physicality.
Clothes help, but a mask enables us to hide our familiar face and, replace it with something radically, painlessly, and most important: temporarily different.
Since prehistoric times, all cultures have used masks for ritual disguise and facial protection.
For example:
- In order to make a charm work, a shaman or priest would shake off his corporeal existence by concealing his identity. Since the soul was believed to reside in the face, erasing the countenance granted admission to a god-spirit. Via his designated mask, the god would 'possess' the wearer.
- In hunting ceremonies, the medicine man used a mask to represent the animal god, enabling the entire tribe to participate in the hunt and honor the spirit of the slain beast.
- Similarly a warrior would wear a demonic mask, in order to terrify his enemy as well as protect his face. As most early cultures hadmultiple gods there were as many masks as deities.
Their awesome aspect, a living reality for early man, gradually assumed more symbolic and playful aspects, while retaining elements of allegory and morality.
For example:
- The uniform masks of Greek theater gave all the characters identical countenance, requiring them to create their individuality through voice and movement.
- The characters of the Italian Commedia D'ell Arte - Harlequin, Columbine and so forth - were fabricated personality archetypes representing the vices and virtues of mankind acted out in morality plays and sideshow routines of medieval times.
Carnivals also feature masks.
These events traditionally served as safety valves providing a break from the drudge of everyday life.
Occurring before key dates in religious calendars they allowed for a short intense period of revelry when positions and values in society were suspended or reversed. Example; Mardi Gras is a last fling for Christians before the austerities of Lent.
Masks help create a fantasy persona that would normally not be allowed to surface and at Carnival it's world upside down: king for a day and (or!) whore for a night.
This release is recognized as necessary by psychiatrists who use mask therapy to loosen the severe inhibitions of clinically withdrawn or depressed patients.
The key word is 'transformation.'
Taking on the spirit represented by the mask enables the wearer to experience the worlds of the supernatural, the glamorous, the bizarre, and the fantastic.
The fact that every culture on the planet has a mask tradition suggests that fantasy is a necessary component of the human condition, and that each of us holds within ourselves a piece of the Divine.
Thus masks remain as popular as ever, providing bursts of myth, magic and mystery to the increasing logic, drudge and pressure of our lives.
What mask are you wearing right now?
A topic for another time...
Welcome to Maskervillage!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)